When the Lost Return
by JennySmith-TARDIS
Summary: There are many demigods who never come home. Every time a quest leaves the borders of camp, Chiron wonders if he will ever see the campers again. If they do return, they are no longer the same demigods who left. They have come to realize why there are so few adult demigods. Chiron never expected to see any of the campers he thought dead turn up, but the fates love to mess with him.
1. Time Trap

**To** **anyone wondering what the title means, look up the title in a GreekEnglish translator.**

* * *

Cassie staggered out of the doors. She was gasping and clutching her head, a rather large bruise forming over one eye. She looked up and froze as her eyes took in everything around her. A panicked look crossed over her face and she whipped around, looking frantically up and dow the unfamiliar street.

"No." she whispered. "No. This isn't possible. This shouldn't be possible."

A newspaper stand caught her eye and she ran over to it, hurriedly glancing over the first page. She found what she was looking for and her already pale skin, paled even further. Cassie dropped the newspaper and stumbled backward. She lost her balance and dropped to the ground. Something in her pocket clanged as her jacket hit the sidewalk.

Cassie's green eyes brightened and she stuffed her hand into the pocket and pulled out a gold coin. A faint smile touched her lips and she stood up again.

"Now to find a working fountain." She said, her hand closing over the coin.

* * *

It was surprisingly easy to find a fountain in Las Vegas. The problem was that they were all really big and surrounded by people. Cassie finally found a small one in front of a theater in a less populated area. She pulled out the coin and took a deep breath before throwing it into the mist cause by the fountain.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering." she said. "Chiron, Camp Half-Blood."

An image of a centaur appeared in the rainbow. He was facing away from the Iris Message, looking at a wall full of pictures. He sighed and moved to the open window. Outside, people were running around, carrying building supplies and weapons. Talking and laughter rang throughout the valley.

Cassie gasped at the changes camp had undergone and the centaur turned around at the noise. His wise face paled a the sight of her.

"Cassie?" He managed to rasp.

She smiled weakly. "Hi, Chiron."

"Di immortals, girl. How are you even alive?" Her old trainer asked. "You went missing almost a century ago, without a trace. Your father was furious."

"Chiron, I was on a school trip." Cassie tried explained. "I somehow ended up in a time trap. A time trap called the Lotus Hotel and Casino."

Chiron's eyes widened. "Gods of Olympus! That's where you were? No wonder no one could find you."

"Chiron, I doubt that now is the time." She said. "I need to get to camp. I don't have a lot of time, monsters from miles around know that I am here. I still have my weapons and supplies, but I'm halfway across America right now."

"I'm sorry, Cassie, but no one at camp can help. The camps are still being rebuilt and-"

"Rebuilt? What on earth happened!"

"Cassie, I'll explain everything you have missed over the last few decades, but right now you should work on getting to camp."

Cassie scowled at him. "Fine, but I have a question. Everyone I knew, they're dead, aren't they?"

He sighed. "Yes, they are. And I promise to tell you everything when you get here, but you have to move."

She nodded. "Yes sir." She swiped a hand through the image and then wiped away a tear. She pulled off her backpack and rummaged around inside it before pulling out a map. "Time to go home." She whispered.

* * *

 **Please review and tell me what you think.**


	2. Melting

Twenty seven hundred miles away in Quebec, Canada, it is an unusually hot day. So hot that, in a certain hotel, ice is melting. The owners of the hotel have retreated to their bedrooms, where it is easier to control the climate. So no one is around when ice statues start to thaw for the first time in decades.

A girl with dark hair and hazel eyes crumpled to the floor as the ice that had encased her turned to slush. Her body shivered spastically as she forced herself into a sitting position.

Her eyes moved quickly around the room she found herself in, looking for danger. They landed on the ice statue she had stood next to only a moment before. Pain and horror flooded over her face and she somehow managed to stand on her feet.

Cold, slightly blue hands touch the icy face. Tears slide down her cheeks as her fingers try to find a crack or crevasse in order to pull the ice away. Violent spasms pass through her body and her legs fall out from under her.

The salty tears mixed with the ever growing puddle of water surrounding the pair. Astrid had to once again push herself up, but she had just managed to get to her knees when there was a thud, and a splash. The statue next to her had fallen, cracking some of the ice.

Astrid scrambled through the icy water and started to claw at the ice, her movements growing more and more panicky and desperate. She only cried harder when her fingertips could no longer feel the ice.

Her arms were wrapped around her torso as she sobbed uncontrollably. Her sluggish mind didn't register the pain, the cold, or the person near her.

"What-what am I going to do?" She stuttered. "I-I'm al-lone, in the middle of Ca-Canada." Her teeth chattered and her hand shook as she reached for a pocketknife laying in the water. She flipped the knife open and she suddenly held a sword.

The sight of the gift given to her by her father calmed her. Slowly she began to think rationally again, but before she could figure anything out, someone placed their hand on her shoulder. She freaked out and had the person up against a wall with her sword at their throats before they could cry out.

As it turns out, the other statue had finally melted, release it her companion. He had watched her stare at her sword for five minutes before trying to get her attention and got pinned to a wall for his trouble.

Patrick watched as her faced changed. Her eyed widened in shock as her lips tried to form words. Anger faded into relief, then the relief was mixed with a small amount of guilt.

"Your sword skills didn't get rusty." He said. "Sorry for startling you."

She smiled, "I'm just glad you're alive." She said, pressing a ridge in the hilt of her sword. It collapsed in on itself once she did. "What do you think we should do? Finish the quest, or return to camp?"

Patrick sighed. "I think we should head back to camp. Emily probably thought that we had died. She would have informed camp. I think that our part in this quest is over."

Astrid looked downcast, "yeah, I just wish that we could have helped her more."

"We did what we were meant to do. There's no changing fate once it happens." He pulled two rings out of his pocket. "My mother gave me these. She said that if you put the ring on and thought of a destination, you would arrive there. These are our ways to camp."

Astrid nodded and accepted one of the rings. No words were said, but both put the rings on and they vanished without a sound.

* * *

 **This one feels weird to me. Astrid is presenting a weird image and I feel like she recovers too fast once Jacob melts. But I don't know how else to present her. She is supposed to be panicky, cause she just melted after being frozen for who knows how long!**

 **So yeah, I don't know about this chapter, please send me a review telling me what you thought.**

 **Also, does anyone know where they are? Just a question. I know, but do you?**


	3. Escape

**Another chapter, a lot earlier than I thought.**

* * *

A brunette girl stumble out of an archway, blinded by the light. Her purple shirt and denim jeans are torn and covered with dirt. She looks around and a huge grin lights up her face, before she turns around back into the tunnel behind her.

She reemerges seconds later with two boys, one blonde and the other ginger. The red haired boy is slumped between his companions, his arms around their necks. "We made it out." The blonde says. "We escaped."

"Finally." The girl says. "I knew we could beat him!"

"Lauren," the blonde boy sighs. "We have no idea how long we have been down there. It could have been six months or six centuries. Let's save the celebrating until we know that there is something worth rejoicing over."

"You are such a downer, Terrell." Lauren said. "Anyway, how are we going to get anywhere with Rusty injured like he is? It's not like we can walk into a hospital and get help."

"We could get a bus. I'm sure we still have money left over, and if anyone asks, Rusty here had too much to drink and got in a fight."

"You are a really quick thinker sometimes, you know." She remarked.

"I try." He smirked. "We have to figured out where we are, first. Then we can worry about the bus."

Lauren looked around them. "How long will that take?"

"Sheesh, did you ever live outside of camp?" He said. "It's like you don't know your way around any city!"

"Hey! I'm the daughter of the goddess of victory, not navigation." She protested. Terrell rolled his eyes.

"If we start walking, I promise we will figure out where we are." Terrell assured her.

* * *

"Great, we're in Arkansas." Lauren groaned, putting down the newspaper they had found. "There is no way we have enough money."

"Cheer up, 'Ren. Let's count the money we have and then head toward the bus station." Terrell held up a folded map of the city.

The two set about pulling every scrap of money out of their backpacks. The two had gently removed Rusty's pack and set him on a park bench, while they sat cross legged nearby, their stuff spread out around them as they tried to find loose change.

"I found four hundred twenty four dollars." Terrell says half an hour later.

"Err... one moment." Lauren recounts her money again and says, " three hundred dollars and eighty seven cents."

"Looks like we had more money than we expected." Terrell said.

"Do you think it had anything to do with our parents?" Lauren asks

"I doubt they know that we are alive," Terrell says. "They probably think that we died long ago. If they even noticed that we disappear in the first place."

"Well, Your Dad wouldn't have done it, I doubt Rusty's would either. My mom probably wouldn't just because she knows that we could be victorious against a lack of funds." Lauren proclaimed the last bit, striking a pose. "Who did it, though? I know that we barely had two hundred when we got trapped."

"Lauren, can we worry about that later? At least wait until we get on the bus. We still have to get there and convince the mortals that Rusty is drunk or something."

"Alright, alright." Lauren conceded. "You lead the way, I'll follow with Rusty."


	4. Leaving

Karli was not happy. She had finally found a job working at a diner and was slowly saving up money to buy a home. The car she had bought a month after she started work was almost paid off. Now, because she looked at the news, she had to leave.

It's not like it would be the end of the world if she stayed, but something happening in California, Long Island and even Greece, was no laughing matter. Mount Tam also housed the remains of Mount Orthys and the Garden of the Hesperides. Long Island held Camp Half-Blood. And Greece was the roots of the Gods.

So why were things going on in all three places? Karli did her homework and discovered that over the past 5 years strange things had been going on. A young boy had been the subject of multiple negative headline news, only for it to turn into positive headlines within the span of two weeks. Mount Saint Helens had exploded, terrific storms had happened all along the coasts. More recently, the same kid who had all the bad-turned-good publicity had gone missing. Museums on the east coast had strange things happening, and then that same kid reappeared, unharmed.

Karli stuffed a purple shirt into her travel bag two bags were also on the bed, another was on the floor, keeping the door open. Piled next to it were three boxes.

Karli emptied another drawer, sorted through the clothes and put them in different bags. She checked the other drawers and then moved to any cabinets in the room. Once those had been emptied, she pulled everything out of the bathroom.

She was just packing the last bag when someone stopped by the open doorway. "Leaving, dearie?"

Karli jumped, then gave a small smile to the woman. "Yeah," she said. "I have to go check on some things on the east coast."

"Well, don't take too long." the woman said. "We'll want our waitress back in no time, I shouldn't wonder."

"Oh, Miss Lou, I'm sure Harvey can handle things without me." Karli said. "He has Sam and Jonathan to help him, after all."

"I wasn't talking just about Harvey, child." Miss Lou said. "You're a breath of fresh air, girl. No one can frown for long while talking to you. And Jonathan will definitely be missing you."

"Now Miss Lou, you know I don't-"

"I'm just telling you what everyone else sees. That boy is over the moon for you, so you better not break his heart by leaving and never coming back. At least say goodbye." Miss Lou finished.

"I'll say goodbye, but only because I work for his father." Karli told her in a final tone.

"Child, Jonathan ain't the only one who cares about you. The whole town does." Miss Lou said before leaving. Karli scowled and finished her packing. She picked up some of her bags and made her way to her beat up old jeep that she had bought a few months ago.

Karli tossed the bags in the back before retrieving the rest of the boxes from her room. She dropped her key off at the office then drove to the diner down the street. She ran into the diner and started rubbing her arms as she looked around.

An older gentleman walked out of the kitchen and Karli made her way toward him. "Harvey!" She said, squeezing by some tables. "Harvey!"

The man turned around and a smile appeared on his face. "Karli! What a surprise, I thought you had already left!"

"I was on my way and decided to say goodbye real quick." She grinned.

Harvey clapped her on the shoulder, "Come, you can say goodbye to my children while I get you some food." Despite her loud protests against the food, he led her through the kitchen to the back, where a red haired girl sat peeling potatoes and a dark haired boy was scrubbing dishes.

"Sam! Jonathan! Karli is here saying goodbye before she leaves." Harvey said, causing both girl and boy to drop what they were doing. Sam went to hug Karli, while Jonathan stood behind her. Harvey left to put together some food.

"You're really leaving?" Sam said.

"Yeah, I am." Karli confirmed. "Miss Lou from the motel told me to come say goodbye one more time. I decided that I might as well."

"Are you coming back?" Sam asked.

"I don't know yet, but I have your phone number, so I'll let you know once I figure it out." Karli said.

"Alright then." The girl poured. She ran off to help her dad an moment later, leaving Jonathan and Karli alone.

"I guess I'll talk to you when you call, huh." Jonathan said.

"Yeah." Karli looked around her, she noticed Harvey coming toward them, Sam tagging along behind. "I guess this is goodbye, for now at least."

"I guess."

Karli reached around him and gave the taller boy a hug. "Goodbye."

She met Harvey halfway and said goodbye to both him and his daughter. She tried to refuse the food, but it didn't work and she left with a box full of her favorite foods.

When she got in her car, she placed the food in the floor of the passenger side seat. She took a deep breath. "Camp Half-Blood, here I come."

* * *

 **So, how did I do?**


	5. I'm Cassie

By the time Cassie had boarded the bus, it had grown dark. She placed her backpack against the side of the bus, bunched up her sweater and then put her head on the modified pillow. She was asleep before everyone had boarded the bus and she didn't wake up until they were halfway through Texas, twelve hours later.

After that, she went back and forth between sleeping and staring out the window. Nothing really interesting happened, which was surprising considering that she was the mortal child of a powerful god. She changed her mind about that when the bus stopped, letting passengers off and allowing new passengers to board.

A group of three kids boarded the bus, two guys and a girl, one of the guys was clearly knocked out. The other two were casting wary glances up and down the bus. When they found seats, the boy and girl had a whispered conversation that ended with the guy sitting next to the window with their friend leaning against his shoulder. The girl sat in the last seat in the row, a perfect place to watch everyone, Cassie noticed.

"They act more like demigods than monsters." she thought. "I guess I'll just have to keep an eye on them." And that she did. The rest of the trip to Now York, she didn't really sleep. She dozed now and then, but she discreetly watched the three kids the whole time.

The kids on their part weren't very interesting. The boy who was knocked out when they boarded, didn't wake up. The other two took turns sleeping. Cassie didn't learn anything about them, except that the girl was slightly competitive and had too much energy. When both her and the boy were awake they would play ABC License Plate*, and she got way too excited whenever she found a letter.

New York was quite different from how Cassie remembered it. The buildings were taller, the cars were newer, the streets more confusing. It could have been very disorienting, but she focused more on getting to camp alive than on her surroundings.

Most of the trip hadn't been interesting. She slept for most of the journey, but during one of the many stops and passenger changes, Cassie noticed a strange group of kids getting on. One looked unconscious, while his companions looked wary.

Cassie kept an eye on them until the bus reached the final stop in New York. She lost sight of the group while getting off, and she didn't see them in the station. Deciding to head to camp instead of trying to find them, she exits the station and hails a cab.

After giving the cabbie the address, (and receiving an odd look in return) she looked out the windows and watched the city go by. So much had changed while she had been in that stupid hotel.

Apparently the cabbie noticed her nostalgic look, because he said, "been away for awhile?"

"Yeah." she replied. "It feels like forever since I left."

"Did ya move away or leave for school?" he asked.

"Huh?"

The cabbie chuckled. "Did ya leave for collage, or did your family move away?"

"Oh," She thought for a moment. "It was school, I guess. I was studying so much, I almost forgot how much I missed New York."

"School can do that to ya, I hear." The cabbie said. "You planning on staying with your folks, or are you going back to school?"

Cassie hesitated. She honestly had no idea what she was planning to do once she reached camp. She released a shaky breath and went with the simplest answer. "I don't know."

She was grateful the cabbie didn't say anything else for the rest of the trip. Cassie had a feeling that she would have started sobbing if she had continued talking.

As it was, she had barely paid the cabbie when her eyes started to water. As the cab drove off, she stared at the hill. It was almost the same. The trees were taller and there were a few new ones, including one on the crest of the hill, that she didn't remember. Other than that everything was the same.

Cassie shifted her backpack and started the trek up the hill. She fingered a ring on her finger. Monsters had been known to attack half-bloods going up the hill. She had witnessed some of the fights and clearly remembered one that had been fought on the steps of the Big House. The pack of hellhounds had chased the poor kid all the way from Brooklyn.

' _That kid is probably dead now_.' she thought. It was true. Unless he had somehow been trapped in time, he was more than likely dead.

She reached the top of the hill, still with no monster attacks. The lack of monsters disturbed her. Usually they were crawling all over the place. With her parentage, she should have been attacked at some point during the past four days.

Knowing better than to wish for bad luck, she walked down into the valley. It had definitely changed. The 'U' shape was now an omega 'Ω'. The added cabins had to belong to minor gods. That made Cassie grin. She knew how crowded the Hermes Cabin got, and more cabins meant that more kids were getting claimed. She did wonder what had changed Zeus' mind about the added cabins. The King of the Gods she remembered would have never allowed the minor gods power.

As she reached the strawberry fields, a horn blew and campers started running around the common area. She saw several pulling siblings out of cabins and dashing off to the opposite side of the Big House. Cassie assumed that they were headed to the dining hall, since thats where it had been located when she was last at camp.

A giddiness she had not felt in a long time filled her and she started to jog the rest of the way to the Big House. The last thing she expected was to collide with someone when she ran around the corner.

Both campers, past and present fell onto the hard ground, groaned. Cassie somehow managed to sit up, but her head was throbbing. "S-sorry. I didn't see you."

There was a weak laugh and she saw the person she ran into, a boy who was about her height with blonde hair and gray eyes, sitting across from her. He had a hand on his head and looked slightly dazed. "Clearly." he states. "If it makes you feel better, I didn't see you either."

She grinned sheepishly as she got to her feet. She stuck out a hand to help him to his feet. "Do you know where Chiron is?" she asked.

"Yeah. I can take you to him if you want." He offered

"That would be great." she said.

"In that case," he held out his hand. "I'm Malcom."

She smiled and grasped his hand. "I'm Cassie."

* * *

 **Longest chapter so far. Sorry this took forever, getting it started and continuing it was stumping me. Sometimes only a sentence at a time came, but this is writing life.**

 **hopefully the next chapter won't take so long, but I'm not making any promises.**


	6. This isn't possible!

Lauren grumbled to herself as she slipped out of the convenience store. She rounded the corner into an alley and walked over to the boys. She dropped the plastic bag full of band-aids, salves and a T-shirt next to Terrell.

"You know, we should just get a cab to camp. They can patch him up just fine there." She complained.

"Lauren," Terrell groaned. "The cab drivers might not let us on board with how beat up he looks."

"They let us on the bus." She pointed out.

"Yes, but he didn't look that bad then."

"We are taking a cab to camp, right?"

"I don't think that's the best idea." Terrell said, wrapping a bandage around Rusty's head. 'We can walk."

"Seriously, Terrell?! You want us to walk to Long Island? With Rusty unconscious?"

"Of course not." He said, smirking. "I just wanted to see your reaction."

"You are horrible."

"That's a matter of opinion."

The alley was silent except for the crinkling of wrappers and the rustling of fabric. Lauren was watching both entrances to the alley, while leaning against the brick wall of a building. Terrell was kneeling next to Rusty, who was laying on the wet concrete. The head wound concealed by his hair had gotten worse, and his black eye had darkened. Various bruises that littered his arms and legs, were all in varying shades of blue and purple.

"So what are we going to do?" Lauren asked after a few minutes.

"This is the last time I am going on a quest with you, Lauren." Terrell said, exasperated. "It's like you don't know anything except victory, sword fighting, and how to be annoying."

"Hey!" She protested.

"It's true." He said, finishing tying a bandage and sitting back. "We could probably take a cab, but I have no idea how much that would cost. We don't have much money left."

"Do we have any drachma's left?" Lauren asked him.

"I think so, why?"

"We could call the Gray Sisters. If we pay extra, they might take us all the way to camp."

"Lauren!" Terrell kissed her forehead. "For once, you're a genius!"

"Watch it!" She grumbled with a smile. She picked up the first aid supplies while Terrell worked on getting Rusty into a position where he could carry him. The trio made their way to the street, where Terrell summoned the chariot of damnation.

The two conscious demigods had a time of convincing the three sisters to take them to the camp. They kept going on about getting tricked and someone name Percy Jackson. Whatever the boy had done however, it didn't keep the sisters from accepting their gold. Soon they were speeding along the highway, which Lauren thought was cool, and made Terrell grateful that mortals, especially police, couldn't see them.

The two demigods didn't talk much, not that they would have been able to hear anyway due to the amount of noise in the cab. Lauren mostly stared out the window, taking in everything that had changed. Terrell occupied himself with going through their packs and organizing them. He checked over Rusty again, then watched the hills of Long Island get closer. The three of them were about to face the challenge of a lifetime, and he didn't know how well they would all take it.

XXX

The Three Sisters Taxi disappeared as soon as they got out. Leaving them at the base of the hill. Lauren and Terrell put Rusty's arms across their shoulders and started up the hill.

They were almost up the hill when Rusty groaned. His friends looked at him in concern, but saw nothing wrong. Instead, they saw a bit more color in his face.

"He's starting to wake up." Lauren said, a small smile appearing on her lips.

"He might be." Terrell said. "It's possible that his body is just reacting to the magic of the valley."

"We should just pour water on him, see if that helps." She said.

"Lauren!" he said, shocked.

"What?" she shrugged. "I'm just saying, it might help."

"Let's just get him to the Big House and talk to Chiron." He said.

"Okay." Lauren looked back down the hill, toward the road and watched a car drive past. Only, it didn't drive past. Instead, it drove up the hill. "Uh, Terrell?"

He looked at her, and then where she was looking. "Move out of the way!" He pulled them over the crest of the hill and out of the path of the car. Whoever was in it didn't stop until they were over the hill and approaching the Big House. The group of demigods ran after it as best they could with one unconscious member.

"What - is - going - on?" Lauren gasped.

"I don't know." Terrell said as they slowed down. "I have never seen something like this happen before!"

A crowd of campers came around the corner of the house. All of them stopped short at the sight of the car. Weapons were lowered uncertainly as campers started whispering to each other. Lauren watched the campers, smiling sadly. She didn't know any of them. None of their faces were familiar. She looked at Rusty and Terrell. They had become family to each other during their time spent trapped in that dark, confusing place. She decided that there was no way she was going to let them go now that there was no one left that she knew.

The door to the car opened and Terrell stared in shock. "Karli-"

Lauren looked at him. "what did you say?"

"Karli. I-It's Karli."

"Who're you talking about?"

"The girl from the Hermes cabin. The one that always seemed to have a cold air around her." He said.

The woman jumped out of her car. "Chiron! Where's Chiron?" She said.

"She has to be dead." Lauren said, dropping under Rusty's arm and walking behind Terrell in order to see. "It can't-Oh Gods!"

At her exclamation, the woman turned around. Her already pale face paled even further. "W-what is this? How can this be possible?" she stuttered.

"Karli?" Terrell said, coming into sight, causing her to stumble backward.

"What is going on!" she cried.

Lauren and Terrell looked at each other and shrugged. "We have no idea." they said. Karli and the other campers stared.

"Cassie?" said a weak voice. Terrell nearly dropped Rusty in surprise. Lauren rushed to his side, looking at Rusty's face.

"You're awake!" she threw her arms around Rusty. a weak tapping on her shoulder got her to look at him. He pointed at something behind her and she turned around. "What!" she cried at she sat on the ground.

Chiron stood before them, but the girl walking next to him was the one that caught their attention. Karli, Terrell, Rusty, and Lauren stared dumbly at Cassie as she stared back at them.

"This is an interesting turn of events." Mr. D said as he stood up from his chair on the porch of the Big house. "Don't bother telling me how it turns out." He turned and walked through the door into the house.

"What in the name of Tartarus is going on!" two voices chorused from the back of the crowd.


End file.
